My curiosity and desire to explore led me to my current job

After working in a variety of fields, he joined Adastria

I joined a major apparel company as a new graduate. As a VMD, I spent my first year training at various brands before working as a VMD for a men's brand. At the time, I chose a men's brand because I thought it would be better to do a job that wasn't influenced by my personal preferences. After that, I continued working in VMD and sales promotion, moving to a company with retail stores nationwide and a small apparel company. When the apparel industry was experiencing a recession, a classmate from my first company, Adastria, approached me and that's what led me to join the company. I had worked at a variety of companies and had come to understand what I could and couldn't do depending on the size of the company, so I decided to join Adastria because I thought the scale of the company would expand the range of work I could do.

Gain knowledge and skills while working

I first joined the Information Systems Department, where I was responsible for planning and developing systems related to internal operations at stores and the head office, and I also worked as a project manager on new business ventures and service development while interacting with various departments. At the time, I didn't have any specialized knowledge or skills, so when I didn't understand something during projects or meetings, I would research it myself, be taught how to do things, and learn from scratch as I went along. As I often worked on the same project or team while listening to the opinions of my superiors and those around me, I began to think that the next stage would be to move forward on my own initiative. Around that time, I had the opportunity to support the planning of Element Rule, a group company, and as I was a fan of the Element brand, I decided that I wanted to work for Element Rule eventually.

To realize your career path

When I thought about what I could contribute to the company's theme of "customer creation," I realized that I lacked certain skills at the time. These skills included data extraction methods and the language required to handle customer data. While working in a different field, I learned from a colleague with expertise in data analysis. Once I had mastered the most basic skills, I volunteered for a transfer. Currently, I'm solely responsible for CRM (customer relationship management), which, to be honest, is extremely challenging. I started from scratch, but by constantly thinking about the customers who enjoy shopping with our brand and discussing with like-minded team members, I've been able to make progress little by little. Utilizing customer data is a crucial issue for the company. Extracting data is meaningless if it's not put to use. Every day, I think about how to extract the necessary data in a timely manner, deliver it to the departments that need it, and how to use that data to grow the brand.

Creating invisible value

It's crucial to be able to pick up on customers' unspoken needs. One of the customer services we offer is a "personal styling service," where customers can schedule a visit with a staff member. When we surveyed customers who received the service, we received overwhelming feedback that their reason for visiting wasn't necessarily just because they love fashion, but because they enjoy the time they spend shopping with our staff. By receiving latent feedback that would otherwise be unavailable, we were able to visualize and uncover hidden value, such as customer needs and the customer service skills of our staff. This is extremely important and a valuable asset for the company. We are currently working on a new project, which also aims to maximize our brand value. To achieve this, it is crucial to gather not only data but also information from around the world. Even if there is no direct connection, there is no telling how it will develop. Therefore, I keep my ears open to everything and always keep a marketing perspective in mind as I spend my days. I believe my role is to uncover and create invisible value.